Communists like to bring up the part about feeding everyone. (each according to his needs) But they ignore the part about how to feed everyone. If they analyzed this to any depth, they would drop communism (as a govern-cement type) for good. Communist govern-cements have the largest death by starvation rates. Truly horrifying rates.
And the reason why they fail i will discuss now. Because, it would be really nice if we didn't leave anyone to starve. Unfortunately, for this dialog, the "HOW" is a diatribe of hate towards communism.
However, we really want everyone fed, and i will try outline how to get that done, honestly, and fairly. So, i hope this will be read and taken to heart.
What can you give the farmer?
Our modern industrial economy has left a few people to do all of the farming for the rest of society. In America, about 3% of the population grows all the crops. They do so with big tractors, on fields sprayed with chemical fertilizers.
What happens if the growing season gets shorter, and the soil is mined out, and takes a great deal more care and protection to grow a yield?
Food suddenly becomes very expensive. If there ever is a food shortage, price doesn't mean anything, it is whether you can buy food. People start paying for food in blood, until there are less people than the food that is available.
People, especially communists, blame the farmers for the lack of food. And go hunt them to take the food, that they know they are hording. This ends with more farmers being dead, and less food being available. More starvation.
Now, what could you give a farmer, so that they would grow food for you, through thick and thin. Money isn't enough. Protection isn't enough, because that will go away when there is not enough food. If you sit and think about it, there is nothing you can give, besides food, that is worthy of food during lean times.
The only way to assure yourself food, is to grow it yourself.
Kill the farmer, raise up the bourgeoisie
Whenever you create a govern-cement, you are creating a class of bourgeoisie. The may be new, but more often, they are the same people with a new mask. And the biggest lie is that this class will make sure that everyone is fed.
The only ones who can make sure everyone is fed are the farmers. But, they are the ones who all the hate goes to. The new ruling class gets in their way of farming, and the farmer gets all the hate that rolls downhill from that.
Then the non-farmer people build up more and more rage, sure that it is those GREEDY farmers who hording all the food.
And so, the farmers are killed. And those that killed them think that farming is so easy. Just spread some seed around, and it grows. Then, they find that they really don't know much about farming, and why are they farming now? Aren't they above this station? Now, they are even more angry, with no one to blame it on. And now, they are even more hungry because they can't grow enough food for everyone.
The bourgeoisie come and take the crops, and threaten the farmers who are OBVIOUSLY hording food. Thus carrying out the will of the people. The farmers die, from bullets and starvation. And a new group of people become farmers. And since they do not know how to farm, they fail.
The cycle is hunger and death. The cause is that people think farming is easy, and that the farmers horde food.
And the WORST! thing, is that those people storm the farms, and find the seed storage, and Ah HA! they have proven that they are hording food. And, because they are not farmers, do not realize this is the seeds for the next year's crops. Imagine being killed because you were smart enough to save the seeds to plant next year.
(and then they eat the saved seeds, and starve next year)
Should the farmers be at the top of the pyramid?
We put "leaders" at the top, putting them over the farmers. These "leaders" usually have a black thumb. Meaning every order they give is to destroy farms and crops. No, really. Those farmer spraying shit all over the capital buildings are not doing enough, not going far enough.
The police that attack the tractors aren't realizing that every bit of damage to a tractor means someone will starve next year. But, what should the police do? The tractors are bigger than their police cars. Well, the police had better learn, and then make a choice. Do they want to serve their masters (the "leaders") or do they want to save people from starving next year? What a horrifying choice.
We shouldn't let "leaders" get elected that do not know how to grow. It would be great if we had a garden bed camera for each person seeking election. It would stop so many bad decisions. Bad decisions based in the stupidity of one who does not know how to grow food.
The solutions are hard, because most people believe they are above farmers.
Well, the next generation of farmers are going to be the ones driving Lambos.
And, the only REAL solution is that everyone becomes a part time farmer.
"… to each according to his needs" only works when YOU are responsible for fulfilling your needs.
A bureaucrat does not know what your needs are. They will assume, wrongly, that you are a normal person. They will assume that calories is all you need. And that it doesn't matter where those calories come from.
And, so you will get lab grown meat, and you will eat ze bugz. This is what happens when you let the "leaders", who have black thumbs, decided "according to his needs"
We need to educate our spirituality. We need to NOT fall for simple solutions.
"From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs" sounds really good, to the untrained ear. We must all train our ears to hear what the "leaders" are really saying. There is no way to force people to use all their ability. And a dozen ways to make sure that they NEVER show their full ability. (and so people starve) And there is no way for a "leader" to assess the needs of an individual. So, what the above says it that you will be treated as a number, you will be forced to work wherever the "leader" says, and you be mistreated and misfed. Just a little bit different than what the Marx sentence seems to mean.
Marxists will say that isn't how its supposed to be, we are supposed to have kind, caring people at all levels of govern-cement to make sure that those bad things don't happen. Even kind people, in a bad structure, will do bad things. It is the structure that doesn't work. The responsibility is in the wrong place.
The only true equality comes from EVERYONE being a part time farmer.
And that is how we will feed everyong.